FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-20
ARMOR CLASS: See below
MOVE: 12”//24”
HIT DICE: 1-20 (see below)
% IN LAIR: 80%
TREASURE TYPE: M,N individuals; B,C
in lair
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Magic draining
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional to Genius
ALIGNMENT: Lawful good
SIZE: M (6’ tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
    Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

The argas (singular and plural), although actually reptilian in nature, appear somewhat humanoid. Their bodies,
which range from green to deep blue to
violet in color, are covered with scales.

The Argas devote their lives to the fulfillment of good. They are on a neverending quest against evil, and will not
hesitate to attack any evil monster which
does not seem to have an obvious advantage over them. If backing down from a
confrontation seems like a safer course,
the argas will attempt to recruit aid and
come back later with a larger force to
defeat the evil threat. Argas are generally
reclusive, but can now and again be encountered searching for some evil foe.

An argas has armor class 9 when it is
born. The creature’s AC can be improved
by the devouring of certain metals. Its
digestive fluids dissolve these metals
into liquid, and this liquid is then secreted and absorbed into the scales, after
which it solidifies. This process takes
place gradually over a period of 1-4 days
(depending on the type of metal, as outlined below). It is accompanied by a softening of the creature’s scales (while
their molecular structure is being altered) which gives the argas an AC of 9
for the duration of the digestive process,
even if it had previously ingested another type of metal. All of the argas’ other
abilities and characteristics are unaffected. At the end of the 1-4 days and from
then on until the Argas’ death (or until it
ingests a harder metal) it will retain the
newly acquired AC.

Different metals can be consumed in
this fashion no more frequently than
once per month, and each metal which
improves an argas’ AC can only be ingested once in the creature’s life. Also,
each metal must be devoured in quantities of 100gp (10 Ibs.) weight to improve
the argas’ armor class. Lesser quantities
will have no effect, and an argas will never voluntarily consume less than the required amount. If this occurs, the argas
cannot consume any more metal for one
month, but the same metal  may be
ingested again at a later time.

Iron, mithril, and adamantite cause the
argas to immediately assume a certain
AC upon hardening (iron, AC 2; mithril,
AC -1; and adamantite, AC -3), while
gold and silver only cause a subtraction
from AC (gold, -2 to AC; silver, -1 to AC).
The digestive process takes 1 day for
gold or silver, 2 days for iron, 3 days for
mithril and 4 days for adamantite.

Example: A newborn Argas which consumes 100 gp weight of gold becomes
AC 7 (9-2=7). Gold and silver can be
used to subtract from an already improved AC (gained from devouring iron,
mithril, or adamantite). The effects of
gold and silver are cumulative. The best
AC an argas can achieve is -6, gained by
devouring 100 gp weight of adamantite
followed by 100 gp weight of both gold
and silver.

Argas have the ability to drain magical
power from a weapon or magic item.
They gain hit dice and special abilities
according to the amount of magical
power they absorb in their lifetimes. An
argas can drain power from an item by
touching it (or being touched with it).
Artifacts, relics and scrolls are not affected by this power, and neither are
characters or creatures which are magical in nature. Weapons and magic items
of good alignment will not willingly be
drained by an argas, but may still suffer
the loss of power if they are brought in
contact with the creature (since the magicdraining power itself is an involuntary
function). When it is in the presence of a
magical object which is not good in
alignment or is not being held or employed by a good character, the argas
will look for an opportunity to come into
contact with the object — perhaps even
allowing itself to be hit with a magical
weapon in order to be able to drain it.

Each time any magic weapon or device hits or touches the argas by way of
an attack from another being, there is a
50% chance that the item will be immediately drained of its power. An item
used in a magical attack will become a
normal item of the same type, unchanged
in physical appearance but devoid of
magical abilities. The item will do no
damage from the attack which caused it
to be drained. A magical weapon will become a normal weapon of the same type,
and damage on the hit which drained it
will be computed as for a normal weapon.

If an argas comes within 50 feet of a
magic weapon or device it wishes to
drain and that item is not used in an attack against the creature, the argas must
first attune itself to the particular item.
The chance of doing this is 5% for each
hit die of the argas, and a new attempt
may be made every round for as long as
the item is in range. Detect Magic will
reveal that magical power is being employed upon the item in question, but
will not reveal the nature or purpose of
the magic. Once an argas becomes attuned to an item, there is a 25% chance
for the creature to drain that item (check
once per round) from a distance.

For every certain amount of power that
is drained, the Argas gains a hit die and
possibly a new special ability (see table
below). The amount of power in an item
is measured by the following system:

Swords: 100 power points (pp) per “+”;
20 pp per point of intelligence; 10 pp per
point of ego; 5 pp for each language it
can speak; 50 pp for each primary power;
100 pp for each extraordinary power;
and 100 pp if sword has special purpose.

Miscellaneous weapons: 100 pp per
“+”; 100 pp for a special ability (Crossbows of Speed or Distance, Mace of Disruption, etc.), and 200 pp for each extraordinary ability (Arrow of Slaying,
Dagger of Venom, Hammer of Thunderbolts, etc.).

Armor: 100 pp per “+”; 100 pp for a
special ability (Armor of Etherealness,
Armor of Vulnerability, Shield of Missile
Attraction, etc.).

Potions: 100-500 pp, depending upon
power/potency and type of effect.*
5. Rings: 100-1,000 pp, as #4.*

6. Rods, staves and wands: 2 pp per
charge, 100 pp for each ability if it has
offensive capabilities (fear, fireball, cold,
etc.); 50 pp for each defensive ability
(healing, absorption, etc.); and 25 pp for
any other capability (illusion, detection,
etc.). Special cases: A Wand of Wonder
is worth 200 pp + 2 pp per charge; a Rod
of Lordly Mightis worth 400 pp + 1 pp per
charge; a Staff of Power is worth 500 pp +
2 per charge, and a Staff of the Magi is
worth 1,000 + 2 per charge.

7. Miscellaneous magic: 100-2,000 pp,
as #4.*

*Note: Precise power-point figures for
these items should be set by the DM,
according to an item’s power in comparison with other items of the same category which are employed in the campaign.

The following chart shows the argas’
progression in hit dice and special abilities, and the magical power points necessary to achieve each new level:
 

Accumulated pp gained from devouring magic	8-sided hit dice	Special abilities
0-999	1	Detect Good at will
1,000 - 1,999	2	Detect Evil at will
2,000 - 2,999	3	Invisibility, 4/day
3,000 - 3,999	4	Teleportation, 2/day
4,000 - 4,999	5	Continual Light, 3/day
5,000 - 6,999	6	(None gained)
7,000 - 8,999	7	Polymorph, 2/day
9,000 - 10,999	8	Tongues (as spell), 2/day
11,000 - 12,999	9	(None gained)
13,000 - 14,999	10	Summon monster, up to 6 HD; 1/day; must always be of good alignment.
15,000 - 17,999	11	Telepathy at will
18,000 - 20,999	12	(None gained)
21,000 - 23,999	13	Fireball, 1/day*
24,000 - 26,999	14	Create Illusion, 2/day
27,000 - 30,999	15	Conjure water elemental of 12 HD; 1/day
31,000 - 34,999	16	(None gained)
35,000 - 38,999	17	Immunity to cold
39,000 - 42,999	18	Hallucinatory Terrain, 1/day
43,000 - 49,000	19	New Body**
50,000+	20	Etherealness, 2/day

*The argas can throw a 6-die fireball, gaining 1 extra die of damage per 2 hit
dice gained thereafter. At 20 hit dice, it can throw a 10-die fireball.

**New Body allows the argas to magically create a body which is a replica
of its own. This body is dormant until the Argas dies, at which time its spirit
takes over the new body. The “reborn” argas has 1 hit die again, but it retains
the AC which the argas’ old body had when the new body was created. The
new argas will have memories of its past, but will not retain special abilities or
the power to attune itself to magic items which it had when it was a 19- or
20-hit-dice creature. Creating a new body may only be done once by any
particular argas, even if the New Body so created also reaches 19 hit dice.

Argas are amphibious, but they prefer
water to land. Their lair is usually an underwater fortress (80% of the time), and
is sometimes (20%) located in cave complexes near a large body of water.
 

Argas cannot hold magic items or employ any magic items which require physical contact to operate, because the
magic-draining power cannot be controlled. An argas cannot physically
transport magical treasures to its lair because of this, but can call upon a summoned monster or other type of servant
to perform this task, or perform it magically. All magic items found in an argas
lair are of good alignment; all others
would have been drained, not kept.

Argas can fight with several different
weapons, and those of 18 or more hit
dice can use 2 weapons at the same time
without penalty. Their weaponry is:
 

01-20%	Trident and sword	20%
21-40%	Trident and flail	20%
41-50%	Sword and flail	10%
51-60	Trident and net	10%*
61-70%	Axe and Sword	10%
71-80%	Axe and flail	10%
81-90%	Sword	10%
91-100%	Flail	10%

* — If an Argas attacks successfully
with a net (by making a “to hit” roll) the
victim must save vs. petrification or be
entrapped in the net, unable to attack for
1-4 rounds.

The average life expectancy of an argas is 100 years, although some have
been known to live to more than 200 years of age.
 
 

Dragon

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MM3

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Dragon #53